Democracy Ranking

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The Democracy Ranking is an index compiled by the Association for Development and Advancement of the Democracy Award, an Austria-based non-partisan organization. [1] [2] Democracy Ranking produces an annual global ranking of liberal democracies. The applied conceptual formula, which measures the quality of democracy, integrates democracy and other characteristics of the political system with the performance of non-political dimensions (gender, economy, knowledge, health, and environment). Democracy Ranking has emphasized a broader understanding of democracy, creating a conceptual link between politics and the output and performance of society. The Democracy Ranking has compared several-year intervals, delivering ranking results, which show how ranking positions and score levels have developed recently. Referring to that information, a Democracy Improvement Ranking has been regularly released.

Contents

Ranking 2016

Source: [3]

RankCountryScorePolitical SystemEconomyEnvironmentGender EqualityHealthKnowledgeGender Comprehensive
1Flag of Norway.svg  Norway 87.199.284.759.984.784.361.492.1
2Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg   Switzerland 86.792.280.582.681.288.273.585.6
3Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 86.297.467.471.485.384.866.291.0
4Flag of Finland.svg  Finland 86.099.763.760.684.782.170.292.4
5Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 85.194.369.578.182.881.467.687.3
6Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 83.393.669.759.381.984.968.786.5
7Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 81.492.263.366.382.881.359.186.8
8Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 81.390.271.160.578.085.367.283.9
9Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland 80.991.563.271.975.879.461.584.2
10Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 80.587.669.859.983.683.670.084.8
11Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 80.390.561.555.581.384.068.085.1
12Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 79.989.768.356.382.082.062.084.9
13Flag of Austria.svg  Austria 79.985.569.166.480.286.669.182.0
14Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom 79.687.862.370.680.679.864.183.5
15Flag of France.svg  France 78.285.259.269.878.186.362.682.0
16Flag of the United States.svg  United States 76.584.271.549.178.783.062.380.5
17Flag of Slovenia.svg  Slovenia 75.983.754.662.479.979.364.582.6
18Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 75.579.857.163.882.087.765.878.8
19Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 75.383.142.475.276.885.058.180.8
20Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal 74.885.145.267.874.480.354.179.7
21Flag of Uruguay.svg  Uruguay 73.583.352.278.573.871.543.277.0
22Flag of Lithuania.svg  Lithuania 72.581.255.070.876.168.049.178.6
23Flag of Estonia.svg  Estonia 72.584.860.531.779.772.356.581.2
24Flag of Chile.svg  Chile 72.081.451.267.376.976.841.478.4
25Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czech Republic 72.079.460.557.274.976.154.576.4
26Flag of Israel.svg  Israel 71.972.860.965.078.281.469.374.7
27Flag of Poland.svg  Poland 71.480.553.566.674.971.944.277.4
28Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 71.175.448.772.973.884.054.875.6
29Flag of Hong Kong.svg  Hong Kong 70.760.977.291.480.0100.054.171.5
30Flag of Latvia.svg  Latvia 70.678.853.871.676.266.344.378.4
31Flag of Costa Rica.svg  Costa Rica 70.280.244.779.070.173.134.574.9
32Flag of South Korea.svg  South Korea 70.269.162.857.478.682.475.272.5
33Flag of Cyprus.svg  Cyprus 69.177.146.267.173.076.543.374.5
34Flag of Slovakia.svg  Slovakia 68.075.251.564.268.372.647.171.3
35Flag of Croatia.svg  Croatia 67.073.639.172.269.973.147.872.7
36Flag of Singapore.svg  Singapore 65.952.290.578.186.679.763.165.5
37Flag of Greece.svg  Greece 65.468.132.966.269.484.360.369.9
38Flag of Panama.svg  Panama 65.371.753.275.967.769.728.372.5
39Flag of Mauritius.svg  Mauritius 65.173.350.775.362.564.131.667.1
40Flag of Romania.svg  Romania 65.070.052.073.269.466.738.470.4
41Flag of Bulgaria.svg  Bulgaria 64.470.449.758.571.770.441.572.7
42Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 64.067.952.160.071.071.146.069.2
43Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina 63.967.446.466.573.768.547.473.5
44Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil 62.566.946.071.269.664.239.469.6
45Flag of Trinidad and Tobago.svg  Trinidad and Tobago 61.171.360.138.968.055.232.070.8
46Flag of Serbia.svg  Serbia 60.667.929.960.261.970.544.066.4
47Flag of Peru.svg  Peru 60.061.952.475.471.061.530.467.7
48Flag of Jamaica.svg  Jamaica 60.069.035.062.561.665.829.664.8
49Flag of Mongolia.svg  Mongolia 59.872.845.737.968.755.625.972.4
50Flag of El Salvador.svg  El Salvador 58.763.947.175.663.159.022.964.2
51Flag of Ghana.svg  Ghana 57.871.641.976.453.131.916.962.2
52Flag of the Philippines.svg  Philippines 57.764.044.977.359.150.025.864.1
53Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia 57.358.046.379.065.961.830.363.7
54Flag of Namibia.svg  Namibia 57.268.937.973.952.044.419.263.6
55Flag of Albania.svg  Albania 56.958.536.064.065.868.442.263.3
56Flag of Tunisia.svg  Tunisia 56.661.641.671.852.062.230.057.4
57Flag of Georgia.svg  Georgia 56.458.740.968.965.866.328.861.9
58Flag of Botswana.svg  Botswana 56.364.643.673.053.940.728.360.2
59Flag of the Dominican Republic.svg  Dominican Republic 55.961.337.870.956.558.329.159.9
60Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 55.755.650.071.165.167.125.862.3
61Flag of Moldova.svg  Moldova 55.657.947.961.563.362.631.463.0
62Flag of Ecuador.svg  Ecuador 55.555.045.870.870.066.226.965.4
63Flag of Bolivia.svg  Bolivia 55.461.644.862.666.048.224.365.7
64Flag of Senegal.svg  Senegal 55.366.137.367.754.743.918.961.8
65Flag of India.svg  India 54.863.646.668.650.945.918.157.5
66Flag of Nicaragua.svg  Nicaragua 54.055.541.871.767.362.918.564.0
67Flag of East Timor.svg  Timor-Leste 53.756.839.393.750.346.423.054.8
68Flag of Indonesia.svg  Indonesia 53.556.747.472.957.547.725.857.7
69Flag of Paraguay.svg  Paraguay 53.053.844.665.962.960.627.060.2
70Flag of Ukraine.svg  Ukraine 52.354.342.829.772.362.943.665.3
71Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa 52.270.526.948.635.930.627.857.1
72Flag of Malawi.svg  Malawi 52.157.433.996.152.538.712.756.4
73Flag of Benin.svg  Benin 51.763.344.062.247.326.520.154.9
74Flag of North Macedonia.svg  North Macedonia 51.353.427.166.753.867.331.454.6
75Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey 50.642.651.271.562.964.042.853.7
76Flag of Malaysia.svg  Malaysia 50.441.160.461.469.362.345.253.7
77Flag of Papua New Guinea.svg  Papua New Guinea 49.954.742.175.654.536.017.454.4
78Flag of Tanzania.svg  Tanzania 49.553.741.568.761.340.315.160.8
79Flag of Guatemala.svg  Guatemala 49.048.250.866.158.157.117.054.3
80Flag of Sri Lanka.svg  Sri Lanka 49.042.746.883.863.162.120.555.3
81Flag of Sierra Leone.svg  Sierra Leone 48.356.540.893.944.112.89.551.1
82Flag of Bangladesh.svg  Bangladesh 48.147.040.474.460.251.719.655.1
83Flag of Madagascar.svg  Madagascar 48.150.440.587.457.238.94.555.7
84Flag of Kuwait.svg  Kuwait 47.936.185.848.264.363.336.949.6
85Flag of Honduras.svg  Honduras 47.744.442.667.758.061.925.252.6
86Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina.svg  Bosnia and Herzegovina 47.549.520.556.153.469.928.253.5
87Flag of Liberia.svg  Liberia 47.450.339.691.244.933.613.048.1
88Flag of Nepal.svg    Nepal 47.145.546.961.467.054.614.256.5
89Flag of Lesotho.svg  Lesotho 46.962.524.376.326.313.116.445.5
90Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 46.449.435.971.953.434.720.653.5
91Flag of Armenia.svg  Armenia 46.041.532.060.061.163.835.051.3
92Flag of Zambia.svg  Zambia 45.550.132.373.457.331.010.453.5
93Flag of Burkina Faso.svg  Burkina Faso 45.346.241.891.847.325.515.946.0
94Flag of Niger.svg  Niger 43.249.440.072.133.332.57.239.6
95Flag of Kyrgyzstan (2023).svg  Kyrgyzstan 43.039.137.351.064.756.324.953.1
96Flag of Russia.svg  Russian Federation 43.027.158.351.272.760.751.250.8
97Flag of Lebanon.svg  Lebanon 42.932.845.148.657.974.339.645.6
98Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco 42.535.143.069.548.759.029.640.6
99Flag of Mozambique.svg  Mozambique 42.553.523.365.235.420.912.247.3
100Flag of Venezuela.svg  Venezuela 42.231.433.360.668.262.939.452.9
101Flag of Mali.svg  Mali 39.536.838.599.233.823.816.133.7
102Flag of Guinea.svg  Guinea 39.435.241.692.141.326.017.238.0
103Flag of Togo.svg  Togo 39.440.238.465.153.428.67.248.4
104Flag of Nigeria.svg  Nigeria 39.341.446.373.634.513.917.738.0
105Flag of Haiti.svg  Haiti 39.036.436.367.657.039.37.946.5
106Flag of Bahrain.svg  Bahrain 38.618.271.550.764.466.941.939.6
107Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 38.321.947.753.967.966.038.345.5
108Flag of Cote d'Ivoire.svg  Côte d'Ivoire 38.140.442.369.833.513.319.735.5
109Flag of Egypt.svg  Egypt 35.724.832.770.645.355.529.234.2
110Flag of Pakistan.svg  Pakistan 34.932.441.561.534.638.810.731.7
111Flag of Libya.svg  Libya 29.515.832.257.145.058.223.429.6
112Flag of Yemen.svg  Yemen 22.510.228.970.420.938.714.914.4

Vision

"The Democracy Ranking is interested in contributing to the global enhancement of the Quality of Democracy in a world-wide understanding and approach." [4]

Theory, conceptual formula and methodology

The Democracy Ranking initiative applies the following conceptual formula for defining democracy and measuring the quality of democracy:

Quality of Democracy = (freedom & other characteristics of the political system) & (performance of the non-political dimensions). [5]

This approach includes also the output of democracies. Democracy Ranking refers to countries (country-based democracies) with a population of one million or more and that are classified by Freedom House as "free" or at least as "partly free" (see also the Freedom House report). The Democracy Ranking makes explicit the "theoretical basis", which governs the theoretical self-understanding of the Democracy Ranking. [6]

The Democracy Ranking understands and measures democracies in a multi-dimensional framework and approach. By this, the Democracy Ranking contributes to a further development of measurement of democracy. According to the ranking, democracy consists of six dimensions (one political, five non-political), with different weights for the overall quality of democracy. Their weights are distributed accordingly:

  1. politics (or the political system) 50%;
  2. gender (gender equality in socioeconomic and educational terms) 10%;
  3. economy (or the economic system) 10%;
  4. knowledge (knowledge society, research and education) 10%;
  5. health (or the health system and health status) 10%;
  6. and environment (environmental sustainability) 10%. [7]

The theoretical basis of the Democracy Ranking encourages a broader approach for explaining and measuring democracy while covering and integrating non-political dimensions. This is enabled by an understanding that democracy represents not only a concept of the political system, but also a concept that extends to society and the context of society, and includes interfaces between politics, society, economy, and even the environment. Politics (policy) has or should have a responsibility for economic (socioeconomic) performance. Furthermore, there is also a need that democracy reflects the context of the (natural) environment.

Concepts of democracy turn out to be more demanding, the more they move from a mainly electoral democracy (emphasizing elections and political rights) to a liberal democracy (also encompassing civil liberties), and further extending to a liberal democracy of an advanced high quality. In that logic, the Democracy Ranking reflects and requires a "demanding type" of democracy.

Methodically, the Democracy Ranking does not create new indicators, but relies on already existing indicators that are being released regularly by renowned international and/or private non-profit organizations. The Democracy Ranking draws on available indicators according to a distinct conceptual formula and six-fold dimensional structure, thus providing a theoretically based conceptual design (a basic concept) of how to combine and aggregate these indicators. Depending on the source, the content of the indicators varies, extending from peer review assessment (Democracy indices) to indicators that capture performance (e.g., socioeconomic behavior). The Democracy Ranking initiative acknowledges the work of organizations such as Freedom House, the World Bank, and also the United Nations Development Program (more specifically the Human Development Index).

Reflections on the Democracy Ranking

The work of the Democracy Ranking is being reflected in academic discourse [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] and in coverage by international media. [15] [16]

Democracy Ranking

The Democracy Ranking analyzes several-year intervals, revealing relative ranking positions as well as changes of score levels over time. Typically, more than hundred countries are being compared in context of a specific Democracy Ranking. Based on ranking results and their shifts, a Democracy Improvement Ranking is being carried out, with a full result release. The Democracy Improvement Ranking places the emphasis on increases or decreases of the ranking scores of democracies. Individual annual rankings of the Democracy Ranking are also published in separate book volumes. [17]

See also

  

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References

  1. "About Us" . Retrieved 22 September 2023.
  2. "Contact" . Retrieved 22 September 2023.
  3. "2016 Democracy Ranking". democracyranking.org.
  4. "Mission Statement" . Retrieved 22 September 2023.
  5. "Campbell, David F. J. (2008). The Basic Concept for the Democracy Ranking of the Quality of Democracy. Vienna: Democracy Ranking" (PDF). Retrieved 22 September 2023.
  6. "Theoretical Basis" . Retrieved 22 September 2023.
  7. "Campbell, David F. J. / Miklós Sükösd (eds.) (2002). Feasibility Study for a Quality Ranking of Democracies. Vienna: Global Democracy Award" (PDF). Retrieved 22 September 2023.
  8. "Romo, M. C. Felipe Reyes (2007). Transnacionalismo y participación política. Consideraciones teórico-metodológicas para el desarrollo de un sistema electoral con participación extraterritorial. Congresistas (No. 149-153)" (PDF). Retrieved 22 September 2023.
  9. "Campbell, David F. J. / Thorsten D. Barth (2009). Wie können Demokratie und Demokratiequalität gemessen werden? Modelle, Demokratie-Indices und Länderbeispiele im globalen Vergleich. (How Can Democracy and the Quality of Democracy Be Measured? Models, Democracy Indices and Country-Based Case Studies in Global Comparison.) SWS-Rundschau 49 (2), 208-233" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 May 2011. Retrieved 9 December 2009.
  10. Jochem, Sven (1 June 2010). "Wandel und Zukunftsaussichten des schwedisch-sozialdemokratischen Modells". Leviathan. 38 (2): 227–249. doi:10.1007/s11578-010-0083-9. S2CID   145508627 via Springer Link.
  11. Barth, Thorsten D. (23 June 2010). Konzeption, Messung und Rating der Demokratiequalität: Brasilien, Südafrika, Australien und die Russische Föderation 1997-2006. VDM Verlag Dr. Müller. ASIN   3639264320.
  12. Denters, Bas; Rosema, Martin; Aarts, Kees (12 January 2011). How Democracy Works: Political Representation and Policy Congruence in Modern Societies : Essays in Honour of Jacques Thomassen. Amsterdam University Press. ISBN   9789085550365 via Google Books.
  13. Hankivsky, Olena; Salnykova, Anastasiya (2 April 2013). Gender, Politics and Society in Ukraine. University of Toronto Press. ISBN   9781442693395 via Google Books.
  14. Vatter, Adrian (12 June 2014). Das politische System der Schweiz. Nomos. ISBN   9783825240110 via Google Books.
  15. ""Globale Demokratie-Hitliste: Wer steigt auf und wer ab" (2013, December 12) by Wieland Schneider, Die Presse (Austria)". 11 December 2013.
  16. ""Only democracy can clean up the planet. Save the ballot box and save the world" (2009, November 20), by Neil Reynolds, The Globe and Mail (Canada)". The Globe and Mail .
  17. Campbell, David F. J.; Barth, Thorsten D.; Pölzlbauer, Paul; Pölzlbauer, Georg (10 September 2012). Democracy Ranking (Edition 2012): The Quality of Democracy in the World. Books On Demand. ISBN   978-3848217984.